crime

Murder trial interrupted by earthquake resumes; defendant acquitted

12 Comments

The trial of a man accused of being a co-conspirator in the murder of a 32-year-old man in a Tokyo apartment in 1999 was finally concluded this week. The trial, which was taking place at Sendai District Court, was interrupted in March due to the Tohoku earthquake, but resumed earlier this month with a new jury.

The defendant was found not guilty of involvement in the murder due to lack of evidence. The defendant cannot be named because although he is now 32 years old, he was 19 when the murders took place, making him a minor under Japanese law.

According to a report on NHK, the defendant was accused of being involved in the murder of a gang member by another man currently serving time for the crime. The defendant and most of the other witnesses were questioned before the trial was suspended. In an unprecedented move, the new jury was shown a DVD recording of the first half of the trial to help them reach their verdict.

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12 Comments
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Acquited? What! There goes your perfect record.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This news sounds very, very strange, so there was an earthquake ok, and now this guy is found not guilty?? Lack of evidence??

0 ( +3 / -3 )

What's strange about it? The trial was interrupted. The trail resumed. The trial was concluded with a not guilty verdict.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The pause that refreshes...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I wonder how long he has been in the dock if the murder was 12 years ago?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Shouldn't the trial have been abandoned and a retrial ordered, interrupt a trial and resume it with a different jury showing them a DVD of the first half?

Sounds very second rate to me, the jury were shown a DVD c'mon how about they actually judicate over the whole thing in one go. Retrial is the way to handle this.

I bet the suspect feels lucky .

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Has he been in jail for 12 years waiting for his trial???!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Does anybody know if he will be compensated for all those lost years, monetarily speaking? 12 years is a long time, the system makes mistakes too, I am not too sure if this was a good or bad mistake if you know what I mean, was he involved or not?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Maybe the evidence was washed away in the tsunami?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Has no one here heard "innocent until proven guilty"?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Wow....so much for the right to a speedy trial. I guess that doesn't apply to Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

12 years...sounds like he's already served his sentence

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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